Maximum Ride Fanfic (title ideas welcomed)
by crazyyesterday
Summary: Starting after the first chapter of Max. The School is at it again? Max and the flock are attacked again just when they think they're safe and have to go on the run. Max has to face her feelings for Fang and accept that the kids are growing up.
1. Chapter 1

**All original writing copyright to me**

**All Max Ride original characters/writing/plots/etc/etc/etc belong to James Patterson**

The Book Max seemed to take forever to come out and with this teaser chapter, I decided to take the bird kids' fates into my own hands. I hope you enjoy

**Near Los Angeles Basin, California**

THERE.

Devin raised his right arm and focused directly over his wrist. It took less than a millisecond to calculate the trajectory–he didn't have a built-in computer, but his 220 IQ served him well.

He slowly breathed in and out, getting ready to squeeze the trigger between breaths, between heartbeats. His sensitive nose wrinkled as the ever-present smog that hovered over the Los Angeles Basin filled his lungs. He hated to think what the pollutants were doing to his brain cells but accepted that some things were necessary evils.

There.

His light eyes expertly tracked the objects flying overhead: one, two, three, four, five, six. Seven? There was a small seventh object, unexpected but quickly determined to be unimportant. Actually, all of them were unimportant. All but one. The one in front.

He knew they had raptor vision. He merely had extraordinary eyesight. It was good enough. All the same, the crosshairs in the gun sight attached to his wrist made missing an impossibility. He never missed.

That's why they saved him for extraspecial missions like this one.

Many, many others had already failed at this task. Devin felt utter disdain for them. To kill one bird kid–how hard could it be? They were flesh and blood, ridiculously fragile. It wasn't like bullets bounced off them.

Once more Devin raised his arm and observed his prey, catching her neatly in the crosshairs, as if they could pin her to the sky. The flock flew, perfectly spaced, in a large arc overhead, the one called Maximum in front, flanked by the two large males. Then a smaller female. Then a smaller male, and the smallest female after him.

A little black object, not bird kid shaped, struggled to keep up. Devin couldn't identify it–it hadn't been in his dossier. The closest thing he could imagine was if someone grafted wings onto a small dog or something, as unlikely as that was.

But Max was the only one he was concerned with. It was Max he was supposed to kill, Max whom he kept catching in his sights.

Devin sighed and lowered his arm. This was almost too easy. It wasn't sporting. He loved the chase, the hunt, the split-second intersection of luck and skill that allowed him to exercise his perfection, his inability to miss.

He looked down at what used to be his right hand. One could get used to having no right hand. It was surprisingly easy. And it was so superior to have this lovely weapon instead.

It wasn't as crude as simply having a Glock 18 grafted to the stump of an amputated limb. It was so much more elegant than that, so much more a miracle of design and ingenuity. This weapon was a part of him physically, responsive to his slightest thought, triggered by almost imperceptible nerve firings in the interface between his arm and the weapon.

He was a living work of art. Unlike the bird kids flying in traceable patterns overhead.

Devin had seen the posters, the advertisements. Those naive, do-gooder idiots at the Coalition to Stop the Madness had organized this whole thing, this air show, this demonstration of supposedly "evolved" humans.

Wrong. The bird kids were ill-conceived accidents. He, Devin, was truly an evolved human.

The CSM zealots were wasting their time–and everyone else's. Using the bird kids to promote their own agenda was a typically selfish, shortsighted thing to do. Manipulating and taking advantage of lesser creatures in order to "save" even lesser creatures? It was a joke.

A joke that could not be perpetrated without this flock of examples. And the flock could not survive without its leader.

Once again Devin raised his arm and closed his left eye to focus through the gun sight on his wrist. He angled the Glock a millimeter to the left and smoothly tracked his target as she arced across the sky.

One breath in, one breath out. One heartbeat, two heartbeats, and here we go...

"AND A-ONE, and a-two–" Nudge said, leaning into a perfect forty-five-degree angle. Her tawny russet wings glowed warmly in the afternoon sunlight.

Behind her, the Gasman made squealing-brakes sounds as he dropped his feet down and slowed drastically. "Hey! Watch gravity in action!" he yelled, folding his wings back to create an unaerodynamic eight-year-old, his blond hair blown straight up by the wind.

I rolled my eyes. "Gazzy, stick to the choreography!" He was sinking fast, and I had to bellow to make sure he heard me. "This is a paying job! Don't blow it!" Okay, they were paying us mostly in doughnuts, but let's not quibble.

Even from this high up, I could hear the exclamations of surprise, the indrawn gasps that told me our captive audience below had noticed one of us dropping like a rock.

I'd give him five seconds, and then I'd swoop down after him. One...two...

I wasn't sure about this whole air-show thing to begin with, but how could I refuse my own mom? After our last "working vacation" in Ant-freaking-arctica, my mom and a bunch of scientists had created an organization called the Coalition to Stop the Madness, or CSM. Basically, they were trying to tell the whole world about the dangers of pollution, greenhouse gases, dependence on foreign oil–you get the picture.

Already, more than a thousand scientists, teachers, senators, and regular people had joined the CSM. One of the teacher-members had come up with the traveling air-show idea to really get the message out. I mean, Blue Angels, Schmue Angels, but _flying mutant bird kids?_ Come on! Who's gonna pass that up?

So here we were, flying perfect formations, doing tricks, air dancing, la la la, the six of us and Total, whose wings by now had pretty much finished developing. He could fly, at least, but he wasn't exactly Baryshnikov. If Baryshnikov had been a small, black, Scottie dog with wings, that is.

By the time I'd counted to four, the Gasman had ended his free fall and was soaring upward again, happiness on his relatively clean face.

Hanging out with the CSM folks had some benefits, chiefly food and decent places to sleep. And, of course, seeing my mom, which I'd never be able to get enough of, after living the first fourteen years of my life not even knowing she existed. (I explained all this in earlier books, if you want to go get caught up.)

"Yo," said Fang, hovering next to me.

My heart gave a little kick as I saw how the sun glinted off his deeply black feathers. Which matched his eyes. And his hair. "You enjoying being a spokesfreak?" I asked him casually, looking away.

One side of his mouth moved: the Fang version of unbridled chortling.

He shrugged. "It's a job."

"Yep. So long as they don't worry about pesky child labor laws," I agreed. We're an odd little band, my fellow flock members and I. Fang, Iggy, and I are all fourteen, give or take. So officially, technically, legally, we're minors. But we've been living on our own for years, and regular child protection laws just don't seem to apply to us. Come to think of it, many regular grown-up laws don't seem to apply to us either.

Nudge is eleven, roughly. The Gasman is eightish. Angel is somewhere in the six range. I don't know how old Total is, and frankly, what with the calculations of dog years into human years, I don't care.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Angel dropped down onto me with all her forty-one pounds of feathery fun.

"Oof! What are you doing, goofball?" I exclaimed, dipping about a foot. Then I heard it: the high-pitched, all-too-familiar whine of a bullet streaking past my ear, close enough to knock some of my hair aside.

In the next second, Total yelped piercingly, spinning in midair, his small black wings flapping frantically. Angel's quick instincts had saved my life. But Total had taken the hit.

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE, I rolled a full 360, spinning in the air, swooping to catch Total and also performing evasive maneuvers that, sadly, I've had way too much practice doing.

"Scatter!" I shouted. "Get out of firing range!"

We all peeled away, our wings moving fast and powerfully, gaining altitude like rockets. I heard applause floating up to me–they thought this was part of the act. Then, I looked down at the limp black dog in my arms.

"Total!" I said, holding his chunky little body. "Total!"

He blinked and moaned. "I'm hit, Max. They got me. I guess I'm gonna live fast, die young, and leave a beautiful corpse, huh?"

Okay. In my experience, if you're really hit or seriously hurt, you don't say much. Maybe a few bad words. Maybe grunting sounds. You don't manage pithy quotes.

Quickly I shifted him this way and that, scanning for wounds. He had both ears, and his face was fine. I patted along his wings, which still looked too short to keep him aloft. Bright red blood stained my sleeve, but so far he seemed to be in one unperforated piece.

"Tell Akila," Total gasped, eyelids fluttering, "tell her she's always been the only one." Akila is the Alaskan Malamute Total had fallen for back on the Wendy K., the boat where we lived with a bunch of scientists on our way to Antarctica.

"Shh," I said. "I'm still looking for holes."

"I don't have many regrets," Total rambled weakly. "True, I thought about a career in the theater, once our adventures waned. I know it's just a crazy dream, but I always hoped for just one chance to play the Dane before I died."

"Play the huh?" I said absently, feeling his ribs. Nothing broken. "Is that a game?"

Total moaned and closed his eyes.

Then I found it: the source of the blood, the place where he'd been shot.

"Total?" I said, and got a slight whimper. "You have a boo-boo on your tail."

"What?" He opened his eyes and curled to peer at his short tail. He wagged it experimentally, outrage appearing on his face as he realized a tiny chunk of flesh was missing near the tip. "I'm hit! I'm bleeding! Those scoundrels will pay for this!"

"I think a Band-Aid is probably all you need." I struggled to keep a straight face.

Fang swerved closer to me, big and supremely graceful, like a black panther with wings.

Oh, God. I'm so stupid. Forget I just said that.

"How's he doing?" Fang asked, nodding at Total.

"He needs a Band-Aid," I said. A look passed between me and Fang, full of suppressed humor, relief, understanding, _love_–

Forget I said that too. I don't know what's wrong with me.

"Got your sniper," Fang went on, pointing downward.

I shifted into battle mode. "One sniper or a whole flotilla of baddies?"

"Only see the one."

I raised an eyebrow. "So, what, we're not worth a whole flotilla anymore?" I looked down at Total. "Wings out, spud. You gotta fly on your own."

Total gathered himself with dignity, extended his wings, and jumped awkwardly out of my arms. He flapped frantically, then with more confidence, and rose to keep up with us.

"What's up?" Iggy had coasted on an updraft for a while, but now he and the others were forming a bird-kid sandwich around me.

"Total's okay," I reported. "One sniper below. Now we gotta go take him out."

Angel's pure-white wing brushed against me. She gave me a sweet smile that melted my heart, and I tried to remember that this kid had many layers, not all of them made of gumdrops and roses.

"Thanks, lamby," I said, and she grinned.

"I felt something bad about to happen," she explained. "Can we go get that guy now?"

"Let's do it," I said, and we angled ourselves downward. Among the many genetic enhancements we sport, the mad scientists who created us had thoughtfully included raptor vision. I raked the land below, almost a mile down, and traced the area where Fang pointed.

I saw him: a lone guy in the window of a building close to the air base. He was tracking us, and we began our evasive actions, dropping suddenly, swerving, angling different ways, trying to be as unpredictable as possible. We're fairly good at being unpredictable.

"Mass zoom?" Fang asked, and I nodded.

"Ig, mass zoom, angle down about thirty-five degrees. Then aim for six o'clock," I instructed. And why was I only giving Iggy instructions? Because Iggy's the only blind one, that's why.

We were moving fast, really fast, dropping at a trajectory that would smash us into the sniper's window in about eight seconds. We'd practiced racing feet-first through open windows a thousand times, one right after the other, _bam bam bam_. So this was more of a fun challenge than a scary, death-defying act of desperation.

The two things often look very similar in our world.

_Seven, six, five,_ I counted silently.

When I got to four, the window exploded outward, knocking me head over heels.


	2. Chapter 2

"Max!" Fang's voice reached through the silence in my ears following the explosion. I righted myself in the air and did a quick headcount.

"I'm fine." He was winging towards me with concern on his face. "Everyone else okay?" My flock called out, sounding off. I let out a sigh of relief and turned to Iggy and Gazzy.

"Did you guys do that?"

"Not us," Gazzy replied. "I wish it was though. That was awesome!" I rolled my eyes, then narrowed them at the window the sniper had been in. Was he gone, or was he playing tricks? I was still nervous about the lack of Erasers converging on us. The audience down below was finally starting to realize this wasn't part of the show. We hovered in the air where we had stopped, waiting for further blasts. I was glad that for once Nudge was silent. Fang flew closer and whispered.

"I think the coast is clear." His face was the usual neutrality that was Fang so any worry, fear, or otherwise was hidden. He seemed to be right, but I was still afraid to take the flock down there. Paranoia? Me? Nah.

"You guys stay here. I'll go check it out," I said, "Wait until I give you the signal before coming." I swooped towards the window and wasn't surprised to glimpse pitch-black wings follow me. I whirled around in the air, causing Fang to barrel into me and both of us to fall through the window.

"Arrrgghhh!" We managed to make it through without damaging ourselves, but between us landing in a heap on the floor and standing in a fight-ready stance, someone could've finished us. We examined the room, every muscle tensed. The room was covered in dripping gobs of meat. Blood and gore was everywhere.

"You guys okay? What's happening in there?" Nudge called.

"We're fine! Don't come in!" They ignored me and came in anyway, one after another like we'd practiced. And one by one they were introduced to the mess in the room.

"Oh, I'm gonna barf. What happened here? Is this the bad guy?" Nudge waved at the pieces while covering her mouth with her other hand.

"Absolutely disgusting. I'm glad my beloved Akila isn't here to see this," Total said. I rolled my eyes at the little talking dog. We jumped into Angel's arms and shuddered.

"Someone describe it to me," Iggy said, reaching down to touch the floor. His hand was right about a piece of the sniper. I grabbed his hand. Iggy could feel colors, but there was no telling what he would feel without out that extra power. Actually there was: squishy, bloody, and just altogether nasty.

"You don't wanna know Ig," I said, holding his hand between mine. He reached up and passed his hand over my face, feeling my expression.

"Something gross, huh?" I nodded with his hand still on my face and he sighed.

"Well, then I'm glad I can't see, but would you tell me anyway? So I know?" Fang came up and led him carefully around the strewn pieces of sniper, talking in a low voice. Gazzy was still standing just inside the window, his arm around Angel's shoulders. I was glad she had saved me and wished she didn't have to see this.

"Didn't I tell you guys not to come in here?" I asked, walking towards them. Nudge was looking green as she walked around the room, looking for clues. It seemed to be a future hotel room, only halfway built with the windows, paint, and even some of the drywall still missing. I listened for others in the building as I hugged the Gasman and Angel to my chest. Angel was crying softly, something that normally didn't come that easily.

"Angel, baby," I cooed, "It's okay, it's okay. Honey why are you crying? We've seen worse than this." And the bad thing was that we had. In my fourteen and Angel's six years of life, we'd seen enough to send a normal human being screaming, but we weren't normal. We were abnormal, in just about every way you can imagine.

"I heard him, Max," she sniffed. "He thought killing you would be easy. Then when I saved you, he talked to someone in his head and they exploded him because he couldn't kill you. It was awful." Fresh sobs wracked her little body and I squeezed her closer. I raised an awe-struck face to Fang and his eyebrow rose. That was saying a lot coming from him. People were being exploded if they couldn't kill us? Almost made me want to let them kill me. Almost.

"There's no one else here. Let's go see Mom and Jeb. They're probably worrying about us. And I don't think I can stay in here much longer. The others nodded and we left, once again one by one. I brushed my hair out of my face, wincing when I felt blood smear. A quick check, revealed blood and several gory bits all down my back and some on my front.

"Ugh, I'm covered in sniper." One side of Fang's mouth tipped up in a quick smirk.

"What?"

"It says something that you're covered in pieces of someone who died because they couldn't kill you and all you can say is 'ugh'." I sighed and nodded.

"Yeah. It says we've been through too much." I perched on the window ledge and jumped out, unfurling my wings in a quick snap. Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, and Angel were already heading for the roof of a nearby building holding Dr. Martinez (my biological mother and the adopted mom of my whole flock) and Jeb (too much about him to say in a set of parenthesis). Fang followed me and we all landed in a run. Mom flung herself at us, somehow managing to wrap all six of us in a hug at once.

"What happened?"

"Sniper. Angel heard him thinking and knocked me out of the way. When we went to check it out, he exploded. Ang said that after he missed, he talked to someone in his head and they exploded him for missing. We're all okay though." Mom just raised her eyebrows and nodded. She was _so_ cool.

"What are your plans? As much as I hate to say it, you can't keep up with the tour. That's completely mapped out and anyone can have access to your route." She pulled away from our hugs, all business, though she kept the still crying Angel in her arms.

_Texas._ The Voice was back.

_Hey Voice_ I thought _Why Texas?_

_Just go._

"Thanks a bunch," I mumbled.

"What?" This was Jeb.

"Just the Voice again," I replied. "We're going. I won't tell you where though. We'll call as soon as we can." They nodded, though both looked worried. I sighed, feeling guilty for leaving them so soon after getting back together.

"We'll be fine. You guys know that. We've taken care of ourselves before." Mom sighed and pulled me into another hug.

"I know. It doesn't mean I won't worry though." She sounded on the verge of tears, and my automatic maternal reaction came out. On my _mom_.

"Don't worry, Mom. Look we'll call you as soon as we can, we'll keep constant watch, and you won't have to worry about a thing. Okay?" I held her chin and she laughed.

"Look at you mothering your mom. I should be comforting you." I smiled.

"Do you have our emergency packs?"I asked.

"Yeah. Jeb?" He had been standing back, watching everything with interest and longing. He was my biological father and a whole lot of other complicated stuff to me and the flock. We were still awkward around him, not sure how to interact.

"Here you go." He handed each of us a backpack, filled with mostly food, one or two changes of clothing and whatever other things we deemed important enough to travel with us. I took mine, one of the heaviest and slipped it over my shoulders, glad once again that my wings could fold neatly against my back. All of our backpacks were black, hiking/camping contraptions with a hollow metal frame in each of them. They could hold up to a hundred and fifty pounds, more than we could hold, but useful and durable. Mom and Jeb had helped us pick them out. I nodded at him and watched everyone else load up. I gave Mom another brief hug as did the rest of the flock.

"Love you and tell Ella that too," I murmured. She smiled and my flock took off as one, no signal needed. We flew in two wide circles, orienting ourselves before angling east to Texas. I didn't look back.


	3. Chapter 3

After hours of flying, we stopped at a cave somewhere about halfway through New Mexico. All of us were exhausted from the flight. We'd been spoiled on airplane flights and three home-cooked meals a day. I berated myself for letting us get so weak while we were still so vulnerable to attack. Almost as soon as we touched down, we were packing food down our throats, no one bothering to try to speak around the food. With six bird kids scarfing down at least four thousand calories each, we managed to finish more than half of the stuff we'd packed. I was sure that if anyone came up on us while we ate, they would just have to wait and watch in strange fascination until we were done.

"Ugh. I feel like concrete," Angel said, finally leaning back satisfied. I smiled at her. The guys and Nudge were still eating. I knew Nudge and Gazzy would be the last to finish. I stopped before I reached that bloated, light-headed state, knowing I was first watch and that we would need the food later. I was surprised when Nudge stopped too.

"Nudge, honey. Go ahead and eat. I know you eat the most." She just shook her head. I realized why she'd stopped.

"Honey, don't worry about how much food's left. You know we always find some."

"I'm saving it," she said stubbornly.

"Well, then _I'll_ eat your share," Total said, diving for the pile still in front of Nudge. I groaned, but let them be. My little Nudge was growing up and taking on more responsibility. A lot of times lately, I caught her watching me for signals on how to act and comforting the others before I could get to them.

"Okay, Nudge, but you don't get watch tonight. You need to rest."

"Okay then," she said, beaming. And suddenly the chatterbox was back. "Do you think there'll be fashion shows in Texas? There must be because Kelly Clarkson and George Bush, and a whole lot of other famous people are from Texas and they like fashion. Can we stay at a beach when we get there? Like the one we stayed at when we learned Angel could breathe underwater and talk to fish and then the Erasers and Jeb came and then Fang was beat up by Ari-" She stopped abruptly at the mention of Ari, my dead, half-brother. I'd killed him once. And he'd tried countless times to kill all of us. Then his real time of death came and just before he expired, he saved all of our lives. I was glad she had stopped talking, but not just because of Ari. Fang had been badly wounded by Ari in their fight. While he lay in the sand, nearly passed out, I'd... kissed him.

Only the Gasman had seen, but Fang remembered and Angel had probably listened to my thoughts since then. I blushed thinking about it and glanced at Fang through my hair. His gaze was on me and I looked down again, embarrassed. He knew me entirely too well. Soon everyone settled around the cave, getting ready for bed. We stacked fists and I went outside to keep watch. One by one the others dropped off to sleep, though Fang stayed up working on his blog. I couldn't call it stupid anymore due to the mass amount of kids that had helped us out of a tight spot after reading his blog.

"How many this time?" I asked, my eyes on the night sky.

"About sixty-two million." My eyebrows rose as I turned to look at him. I let out a low whistle and his lips quirked. He stood up with the laptop and walked out to sit with me on the ledge. The computer's glow highlighted his profile and made him look extra hot. Oh! Forget I said that.

"Yeah. A lot of them joined after seeing us on TV at the Congress meeting."

"Oh?"

"They think you, Iggy, and me are hot." I blushed again and returned my gaze to the night. What the hell was I doing blushing so much?

"What about Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel?"

"Too young. Cute maybe, but not hot."

"And Total?"

"Absolutely adorable." I chuckled and glanced back at my flock, my family. They were so young to be enduring everything we'd been through. Even outsiders agreed. I sighed and frowned, my brows furrowed.

"They're _all_ young," I said.

_And so are you. But that doesn't mean you can't save the world, Max._

_Hey Voice._ I sighed. I was too tired to argue with it just then.

_Hello Maximum._

_Will you tell me why we're going to Texas? Or is a straight answer still too much to ask?_

_To save the world._

_For real this time? Or is it just another test? I'm so tired of all this and I wish it was just over so they can finally relax, Voice. Can't I have that? Just this once will you give me what I ask?_ This time the Voice sighed.

_I know, Max. I love them almost as much as you do. But this is your destiny. And your destiny must come before everything else. Even the flock._

Nothing_comes before the flock_ I growled. The Voice sighed again and I didn't get any response from it other than that.

"The Voice again?" I jumped, having forgotten Fang next to me.

"Yeah." My voice sounded just as tired as it had in my head. Normally I was better controlled than this, especially around the flock, which needed me to be strong. But Fang was a different case. I trusted him to be able to handle me and the flock when I was too weak or tired or sad to do it myself. Plus he would figure out what was wrong with me even if I did put up that front for him.

"You should go to sleep. I'll keep watch."

"No. You have last watch. Remember? Go to sleep. I'm fine." I looked out around us, doing a quick check with my eyes. Nothing was amiss.

"Well then let's do a perimeter flight check." He powered down the laptop and set it just inside the cave opening. "Come on," he added. I lept up into the air and opened my wings, Fang on my right flank. We started in a spiral, circling the cave in ever-widening circles. Fang had chosen the perfect thing for me to do to wind down. Flying was... wonderful, with the wind pushing my hair back and caressing my body and wings, cupping the air in my feathers and knowing that _I_ was the only thing between life and death. A smile grew on my face as we flew and soon we were looping around each other joyfully.

Though I kept my attention on the surrounding area, alert for any danger, my eyes often flicked to Fang, his large, glossy, black wings embracing the air. He managed his wings even better than I did due to the hawks he and Nudge had lived with while I'd been hurt and stuck at Mom and Ella's house. That was before I knew who they were, terrified that they would find out my past or that the flock existed. Now I was as close to them as I was to the flock and that was saying something considering that they were full humans, those we trusted least.

Several times he caught me looking and grinned at me. Soon he was so smug that I couldn't stand it and knocked wings, knocking him a few hundred feet closer to the ground. I wasn't worried about him though. We were a couple thousand feet in the air and he could catch himself easily. I did start to worry when he was down almost a thousand and still had his wings furled against his back.

"Fang?" I called, nervous. When he didn't answer I flung myself downwards, falling at a rapid pace. Why wasn't he opening his wings?

"Fang!" I screamed. He was only thirty feet away from me, but a hundred feet from the ground. I managed to dive those last few feet and wrap my arms around him in time. I beat my wings hard against the air trying to at least slow our fall. He was heavy, taller than me by a few inches and weighing about forty more pounds.

"Come on, Fang. Wake up," I groaned. His eyes were closed and his face was slack. What had happened? We thumped into the ground harder than I would've liked and rolled a little ways down the hill we'd landed on. Fang was still limp, his body spread-eagled on the ground. I crawled over to him and checked for a pulse. His vein pulsed against my hands, even and regular. What was wrong? I watched his chest rise and fall. Still breathing.

"Fang?" I whispered, "Fang, please be okay. Wake up, Fang. Please." I felt a panic attack coming on and fought to quell it. I had to keep a cool head or Fang could be in serious trouble. It seemed to me he already was. I passed my hands over his face, neck, and arms, feeling his temperature. It felt normal to me. Or at least as normal as it could get for a bird kid. I took his face in my hands, tapping against his cheeks.

"Wake up, Fang. Come on," I mumbled. Above us the stars twinkled, the moon glowed, and around us I heard countless animals. We'd been careful to camp away from any civilization and I half regretted that choice now. Should I wake up the kids? But I couldn't leave Fang alone here. What if someone came for him while I was gone? Curse words left my mouth in a steady stream as I bent over Fang and pressed my forehead to his.

"You gotta wake up, Fang. I can't do anything here. I don't know what's wrong." I closed my eyes and felt tears fall. I was doing my best to keep my cool, but I was slowly slipping. I couldn't lose Fang. He was my partner, the one I could always count on to help me and take care of me when I needed it. I opened my eyes and pulled away to look at him. My tears were streaming down his cheeks as if he was the one crying. They even started at the corners of his eyes. And then he started turning invisible. Right between my hands. It was his power. If he stayed still long enough, he would disappear from sight until he moved again. It was about then that I started freaking.

"No, no, no, no!" I ran my fingers through his hair and pushed his head back and forth, but he stayed invisible. It had to be his movement that would let me see him. My tears were floating in the middle of nowhere, showing the line of his cheekbones. On the positive side, no one would be able to see him if I went for the others.

"Damnit, Fang. Wake up!" I yelled.


	4. Chapter 4

He flinched, and became visible again. I watched with relief as his eyes fluttered open and he focused on me. He was all right. Sort of. I still didn't know why he'd fallen out of the sky, but he was awake and that was all I needed.

"Come on. We need to get back to the cave before something else happens," I commanded, standing up and reaching for his hand. His grip stopped me from leaping in the air.

"No, Max. It's okay."

"What do you mean its okay? You just fell out of the sky!" He was sitting on the hill now and he gently pulled me to a seat beside him.

"I know, Max. I was just practicing a new power." I was incredulous and spluttering. He put his other hand over my mouth.

"I developed it awhile ago and didn't tell you guys. I think Angel knows, but she was letting me tell you when I was ready. I can levitate." He took his hand away.

"Um... That's awesome, but isn't it a bit... redundant?" That quirk was there again.

"Yeah, but it's not just me, it's everything. Look." And suddenly I was floating in the air without using my wings. It was unnerving as hell.

"Whoa," I said unsteadily, "Put me down, Fang. I believe you now." He set me gently on the grass.

"That's amazing." Soon my mind was filling with all sorts of uses for his newfound power. "How much weight can you hold? We could float a whole ton of food and bring it with us without anyone having to carry anything. And if anyone's hurt that'll help too." He stopped me again with the hand on the mouth.

"The problem is it tires me out really fast."

"Oh," I sighed, "Sorry."

"That's all right. You were just thinking of the flock." He gave me a full smile and I almost jumped. I ignored it and concentrated on the falling thing.

"Is that why you fell?" I asked.

"Yeah. Used too much energy."

"What were you trying to levitate?"

"Nothing."

"But-"

"It's not just levitating. It's all of telekinesis. I've been researching. Basically all together I can move stuff with my mind."

"Then what were you trying to move?"

"I was trying to see if I could bring some food to us to have a little picnic," he admitted. I rolled my eyes.

"Do you have enough energy to fly now?"

"Yeah."

"And you're not just saying that to be macho? I don't wanna catch you again, Fang. You're too heavy." He laughed and hugged me, arms lingering around my waist. He was really showing emotion tonight.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I questioned, watching him with concern.

"You're right. Maybe we should wait it out here. You can see the cave from here, right?" I glanced up and around, a quick search. With my raptor vision I was able to make out the opening of the cave we had chosen. I hadn't realized we were so close.

"That's really close," I said, "Did you manage to get the food out of the cave?"

"No. Just unzipped my bag and got them to the opening. It took a lot to focus like that."

"Hmm..." We sat in companionable silence, waiting for Fang's strength to return. It seemed odd to me that he was so relaxed and agreeable tonight. Normally I would have had to fight with him about whether or not he was strong enough and anything more than that little quirk was a lot. I kept watch from where we were sitting while thinking about it. My thoughts rambled and I eventually landed on a question that had been bothering me.

"Do you think Iggy will get his full vision back? You know, as a power?" It really made me mad that Iggy needed a mutated power to have one of the five main senses that most people had. The whitecoats had attempted to improve his night vision. He'd come out of the operating room blind. They were sick, twisted people and they were also the ones chasing us.

_Hello Max._

_Hey Voice. What are you doing here? Normally you don't come this many times in one day._

_I'm just watching over you. Don't worry about the whitecoats. They're too busy with their latest project. Right now a higher force is chasing you._

_Information. I'm impressed. I didn't know you could give me info without me asking for it, or even with me asking._ The Voice sighed at my sarcastic tone. I ignored it and glanced at Fang. He was laying back, eyes closed and I felt my heart clench watching him breathe. New powers were good. They were unexpected, a variable the scientists couldn't factor into their equation, but if they drained us of energy, that was a bad thing. I didn't want to have to see Fang fall out of the sky again. I'd nearly died watching him fall.

_Kiss him and get it over with, Max._

_Say what?_

_You two are _crazy_about each other. As long as you're pining away for him, you're mind is off of the mission._ What was the Voice saying? That I let my emotions overcome me? And what emotions even?

_You _love_him, Max. You can't deny it._

_I won't. I do love him. As my brother. I can't kiss my brother. That's incest!_ The Voice chuckled and sighed through my mind.

_Oh, Max. When will you learn?_ I had never been able to tell the gender or age of the Voice, but I could hear perfectly the love and affection. The Voice truly cared about me, no matter what I might think.

_I do love you, Max. More than you know._ I glanced down at Fang. His eyes were still closed, his breath even as if he'd fallen asleep. I felt my face soften as I looked at him.

_You're right, Voice. I do love him. I love you, too. In some weird, twisted way. But what if I let my feelings for Fang overcome my motivation for the mission or my love for the flock?_

_Didn't you say earlier that _nothing_comes before the flock? Fang _is_flock, Maximum. He plays Daddy to your Mommy. The only difference is you'll be easier around each other. And Fang might help you save the world. The whole flock already is._ I sighed while I watched Fang. I was certain he was asleep now. I let him have the rest. And Iggy too, who would be on watch next if I went to wake him up on time.

_I'm so scared_ I admitted.

_Don't be. You're more safe with Fang than with anybody else._ I felt the Voice wrap itself around my mind and heart, like a good hug, only inside. Then it left and I felt alone. My attention returned to Fang's sleeping figure. The only thing that kept him visible was his twitching hand and constantly changing expression. I wondered what he was dreaming about.

"Max," he whispered. I leaned closer, expecting more words. Then I realized he was still asleep and sat back. He was dreaming about me?

"Fang?" He was instantly awake, eyes searching for the source of sound, just like we'd trained.

"Max? What's wrong? Erasers?"

"No. It's just... I was talking to the Voice just now and..."

"And what?" He sat up and met my gaze steadily. I felt warmth all through me as his chocolate brown eyes fixed on me. I was still scared. But the Voice was right. I ducked my head, blushing.

"Max?" He put his finger under my chin and pushed my head up so our eyes met again. "What's wrong?" What was it the Voice had said first? 'Kiss him and get it over with, Max' wasn't it? I put my hand over his and leaned forward, closing my eyes as I did. I trusted the Voice implicitly and if this was what it said would help...

I pressed my lips to his, my hand holding his hand on my chin. Then he moved it to cup my cheek, the other one around my back. The kiss deepened and the warmth I felt earlier began to burn. The hand on my cheek moved to the back of my head, tilting it for a better angle and twisting in my hair so I couldn't get away. I wasn't planning on running this time. Eventually, I remembered to breathe through my nose and the kiss seemed to last forever. Our wings slowly unfurled as we pressed against each other and wrapped around our close bodies, making a cocoon.


	5. Chapter 5

I was the one to pull away first and rested my forehead on his shoulder. Fang seemed tense and wary of my movements. I couldn't blame him after all the times I'd run away after kissing him. Realizing what I'd done to him those times I pulled away some and met his eyes. His hands had moved to trace small circles around where my wings connected to my back. It sent shivers down my spine.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. His face fell and he started to pull away.

"For kissing me, right?" he asked, voice low. I gripped his arms and held him where he was.

"No. For running away all those other times." I watched as hope slowly dawned across his face. God, I was so scared. He pulled me closer and pressed his lips against mine for one heart-rending moment.

"I punched a wall the first time you did that. In the cave, remember?" I was shocked and I guessed my face showed it because he laughed and ran a finger over my bottom lip. This couldn't be happening. Every instinct was screaming for me to get up and fly away, before my heart could be broken or something bad could happen. I started shaking and felt tears come to my eyes. I buried my face in his neck to hide them. I wouldn't let myself run away again.

"Max? Max, are you all right?" He grabbed my shoulders and pushed me away enough to see my face.

"I'm so _scared_," I said, half laughing, half crying. Fang pulled me close again and cradled my head between his head and shoulder.

"Me too," he said, laughing nervously, "This is so weird." We both laughed a little and then kissed again, another sweet, short kiss.

"Wait, you said something about the Voice before you kissed me. What did it say?" I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"It said, 'kiss him and get it over with, Max'." I stated.

"And you did what it told you too?"

"Well there was a bit of an argument in between. Also it says the whitecoats are working on a new project and it's a higher force trying to kill us now." Fang sat back, his arms still around me, but a thoughtful distant expression on his face.

"I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing about the whitecoats and 'higher force'."

"Me neither." We sat a few minutes, arms and wings around each other, doing automatic 360's to check the area. It was almost like alertness and surveillance had been programmed into us too, but they weren't. Jeb had taught us, Jeb and our messed up life. Fang grabbed my hand and stood up.

"Come on. We better go back to the cave and wake Iggy up for his watch. We can tell the others about everything later." I nodded and jumped into the air, unfurling my wings at the highest point and pumping a hard downward stroke to get airborne. We were halfway back to the cave when I thought of a question to ask.

"What do we tell them about... us?" When Fang turned to me and smiled his biggest, smuggest, most mischievous smile, I knew his answer was going to be bad.

"That it wasn't just the Valium talking when you told me you 'loo-ooove' me." I shrieked and chased him back to the cave, both of us laughing the whole time. It was just too hard to stay mad at him

I woke up just before dawn to multiple complaints of hunger. Nudge, Gazzy, Angel and Total were all bent over me, puppy-dog eyes and pouting mouths on all their faces. Of course Angel's pout had just the slightest smirk to it. Little mind-reader girl.

"Pleeease can we go to a Mexican restaurant Max? We've never had Mexican food before." I sat up, rubbing my forehead.

"What about all those burritos and cheese quesadillas Iggy and Mom made for us? Those were Mexican."

"Yeah, but they weren't cooked by a reeeal Mexican." I groaned. Where had this headache come from? Was it a preview of one of those headaches I used to get that made me feel suicidal? No, it was just from the sound of four whining voices as soon as I woke up.

"We're too recognized now, guys. If we just walk into a restaurant, or anywhere with people, they'll see us and we won't be in hiding anymore. I was met by four more pleases and three (four if you count Total) pairs of lips that were so puckered out I could've stuck a fish hook through them.

"Nudge brought her makeup kit. She could do us over so we look way different." I glanced at Nudge and she nodded vigorously.

"How did you manage to fit that thing in there?" Her makeup kit was huge, with just about every shade of every kind of makeup you could get including several nail clippers, hair scissors (and clippers) and even hair dye. She just smiled sweetly and forced out about another fifty-seven pleases.

"Hmm... We're gonna need a makeover anyway, so Nudge, you do all of us up, so we look completely different and then we'll see about the Mexican restaurant. Until then, eat what we got left in the backpacks." They all lit up and scrambled to our pile of backpacks. I dug through mine for some Tylenol and downed two pills dry. Fang raised an eyebrow at me, but I shook my head.

"I'm fine," I mumbled, "Just not used to waking up like that anymore." His mouth quirked and I was glad everything still felt normal between us despite last night.

"Okay everyone, while you're eating, I got some stuff to tell you." Angel grinned wider around her food and I groaned inwardly. I was going to have to do something about her and her mind-reading skills. They gathered around me and I silently cleared the path for Iggy. He didn't know what I was doing, though some of the others noticed sometimes when I did.

"So the Voice said that the whitecoats aren't chasing us anymore. Apparently they're working on a new project." Cheers went up around the cave and I quieted them with a raised hand.

"Now, however, it says, there's an even bigger force chasing us."

"Like what?" Gazzy asked.

"I don't know. That's all it said. Also Fang's got a new power. Telekinetics. It weakens him though, so we gotta be careful when we ask him to do that for us and when he practices." Everyone's heads swiveled to him.

"Will you show us Fang?" Nudge asked, scooting closer.

"I just said it weakens him-"

"It's okay, Max." Fang quirked his lips at me than lifted the pop tart in Nudge's hand away from her and to his own hand. The whole flock, aside from Iggy watched with fascination. After a few minutes of demonstration, explaining to Iggy, and a small fight between Nudge and Fang about the pop tart, they settled down and went back to eating.

"Is that all?" Angel asked, sweetly.

_You know it is, squirt_ I thought at her hard, with a stern expression on my face.

_But it's a good thing, Max._

_I _so _don't wanna hear it from them. I'm not in the mood for their jokes._

_Okay, but they're gonna find out sometime._

_And not because of you, right?_

_Right. I won't say a word._

_Or think one?_

_Or think one._ She mimed zipping her lips at me and grinned. No one noticed the gesture. Soon we were on our way again, flying towards Texas. I'd finally conceded to Nudge about the beach and told her she would do our make overs there. She was _ecstatic_ and would not stop talking. I used my warp speed several times to keep ahead of them, far enough so I didn't have to hear her ramble about all the possible different ways she could make us up. I think the whole flock got tired of hearing it, because after a few hours, I realized Nudge was no longer with us. Or Total.

"Where're Nudge and Total?" I called, frantically looking around. Had we really left them behind because Nudge talked too much and Total loved it? The others began to look too.

"We have to find them. Fan out. We flew in ever-widening circles. When we had to split up to be able to cover more area, I started to freak. Where was she? How could I have let her disappear? She was part of my flock. It was my job to protect them and I had let them down. I _knew_ that if I... whatever it was me and Fang were doing now that something bad would happen. I was almost in full-on hyperventilation mode when I heard Fang's voice above me.

"Breathe Max. We found them. Nudge stopped to bandage Total. His bullet wound opened while flying today. He was above me, the best position for passing things. I reached up to see what he had and found Total in my arms. He was in his baby (sorry, I mean _dog_) carrier.

"Switch him for your backpack. I'll carry the pack." I moved above him and dropped Total down.

"Hold on to him until I get the backpack off. I'll be going up to get some altitude before I furl my wings to get the pack off. He nodded and I soared upwards, loving the feel as the air got colder, thinner, and dryer. When I was at a decent enough height, I furled my wings and started dropping like a stone. Quickly, I removed the straps of the backpack and as soon as it was off I let my wings spring out again. I was a few hundred feet below Fang.

"Got it!" I called. He swooped down shaking his head.

"It scares me when you do that." I smiled and handed him the backpack.

"Well then you'll have to hover above me and help me get the straps on the carrier." They were the kind that could be snapped, making it easier for us to put on in midair. He moved overhead and lowered the carrier full of flying, talking dog unto my back, making sure the straps hung below me. I snapped them together while he held Total in place. We cursed when our wings smacked into each other, mine on an upswing, his going down and knocked us down another couple hundred feet. Luckily I'd gotten the straps just before it happened.

"We need a better way of doing this," he grumbled.

"I'll think on it. Why are we carrying you, Total?"

"I was falling behind. My tail is bleeding me dry. And my heart is just simply bleeding." I rolled my eyes. Total was absolutely in love with the heaviest malamute ever, Akila. We'd left her back in Los Angeles at our hotel with Mom and Jeb.

"Don't worry Total. They'll take good care of her." He let out a theatrical pathetic groan.

"My poor, poor Akila. She is probably just dying without me there by her side."

"We could go back to LA and leave you there. I don't know how Nudge plans on disguising you."

"I can't leave you bird kids to fend for yourselves. That would be dishonorable of me." I could feel him puffing up his chest on my back.

"Then stop complaining." Total humphed and I heard Fang chuckle. When we reached the rest of the flock, I alternately yelled and gushed at Nudge. She ignored both and kept on her make over prattle. I flew ahead by Fang and spoke in whispers with him.

"It worries me that we haven't had an attack for ages, aside from the sniper," I said.

"Me too."

"Could the whitecoats really be giving up on us?"

"No. I think they're just waiting 'til the 'bigger force' gets us, then they'll dissect us or something." I shivered and felt Total do the same. I sighed and Fang frowned at me, concern in his eyes. The look said, 'are you all right'. I nodded and gave him a small smile, meaning 'I'm fine'. I glanced at my backpack and raised my eyebrows. 'Too heavy?' He quirked his lips and shook his head slightly. We knew each other way too well. A whole meaningful conversation could be had using just our facial expressions. It felt right to be with him now and in the past, and definitely in the future.

"Anyone wanna practice some of our touring routines?" I called. Everyone immediately started shouting out their favorites. I chose the most complex one and soon we were spinning and looping, dropping and soaring around each other, joy on our faces. I _loved_ flying.


	6. Chapter 6

**There's a few different POV'S in this one. Just warning you guys. I'm glad you all are liking it so far :-)**

"Come on, Max. I could just hypnotize them and tell 'em that we look different," Angel whined. They were on me again about the Mexican restaurant. I groaned.

"Kid, you're getting too scary for your own good. Did even hear yourself just now?" She giggled and looped around me.

"No Mexican restaurant. At least until we find a secure place and Nudge makes us over, okay?" Angel sighed.

"Okay. But I'm hungry now."

"Fang still has my backpack. Get some food from that. I'm sure he'll be happier for the lighter load." She nodded and fell back, flying towards Fang who was bringing up our rear. I was glad for the coming makeover. My hair had reached that annoying length that was too short to put up and too long to stay out of my face since my haircut back in New York. We were over Houston and Nudge and Total had been begging for a while to check it out. Wouldn't these kids ever learn the concept of hiding out? However I was most worried about Iggy and the Gasman. For the last few hours, they'd been flying close and high, whispering together. I had the sneaking suspicion that my two little pyros were up to something, but wasn't in the mood to get into it. Angel was whispering in my mind about me and Fang, wondering when I would tell them.

_Never, Angel. If they find out then they find out, but _I_won't be the one to tell them._

_Then I'll just talk to Fang._ I felt her pull away from my mind and saw surprise on Fang's face behind me. I sighed and swooped lower, examining the ground. It was night around us again and the lights blazed from the city. I had made us fly higher as soon as I saw them.

I heard wings flapping right behind me, coming at high speed. I furled my wings, dropping and turning at the same time to face the potential danger. If it was Flyboys again I was ready to kick butt. Then Fang appeared in front of me, a huge smile on his face and caught me around the waist.

"What are you doing?" I yelled. "I thought you were a Flyboy." Since he still had me in his arms I couldn't unfurl my wings. He was holding my full weight along with both of our backpacks.

"How are you even keeping us up?"

"Angel's right you know. And I'm not. We're still falling, just not as fast."

"What?" I screeched and looked up, glaring at Angel who was falling further and further away. Then I remembered what Fang had said and realized we were the ones falling.

"Let go of me, Fang. We're getting too close to the city. They'll see us." He pumped his wings harder and our fall stopped, though we didn't get any higher. Then he pressed his lips against mine and I forgot where we were and who was watching.

"Ewwww!" Gazzy yelled. "You guys are so gross." I pulled away from Fang and looked up at my flock. They were flying closer now. Angel was grinning smugly and Nudge was beaming.

"What? What are they doing?" Iggy asked.

"Kissing!" All three (sorry Total, four) of them yelled. I blushed and wiggled out of Fang's grasp, dropping a few feet then soaring up.

"I'm gonna kill you Angel. I know you put that in his head!" She laughed and darted away, hiding behind the others.

"No I didn't. He just agreed with me." She was giggling and half-screaming as I chased her through the air. At her words I whirled around and dropped on Fang's back.

"Fang!" I shouted, almost whining. He grinned and reached up to pull me down in his arms again. I shot up before he got a grip and Iggy crowed with laughter, somehow managing to be bent over laughing in the air.

"You guys are horrible," I moaned, blushing. That just started a fresh wave of giggles through everyone, even Fang. I was never gonna live this down and why wasn't Fang mortified? I would've warped out of there right then, if it weren't for Total still strapped to my back. Instead I flew ahead, grumbling the whole time. We were only a few miles from the coast. I thought of a way to get away from them.

"Total, get out. You're flying on your own now." He reluctantly climbed out of the dog carrier and jumped off my back, throwing out his little wings to catch himself.

"I'm going ahead to scout for a place to sleep tonight. I'll use the mirror to signal when you get close. Fang, my backpack?" Fang swooped over me and dropped the heavy thing in my arms. Only now it wasn't so heavy due to the flock's appetite. I dropped to put it on then warped ahead towards the beach. Hopefully I would find an abandoned cave or shack for us to stay the night in. Just before I switched to my warp speed, I heard Nudge singing softly about me, Fang, and a certain tree.

Fang watched her disappear in a blur and quirked his lips. She was beautiful and strong and right now, extremely embarrassed. He almost hadn't believed when she kissed him last night. It seemed too much to even hope for and now... Nudge was still singing about K-I-S-S-I-N-G and Iggy kept bursting into laughter at random intervals. The Gasman seemed kind of green. Fang was afraid to go near him with that expression. The Gasman wasn't his name for nothing.

_You shouldn't have talked to me Angel. She's really embarrassed now and she thinks you forced me to._

_No she doesn't. She knows you did it on your own._

_Like that's much better._ Angel's laugh tinkled through his head before she pulled away.

"It's just so romantic," Nudge cooed, "You and Max are _perfect_ for each other. Gazzy told me about her kissing you on the beach when you were hurt. I knew you guys would end up together. Does that mean you're like our daddy now or something? Max acts like our mom. Are you gonna act like our dad?"

"No." She whirled around, a dreamy expression on her face. Fang was starting to regret listening to Angel now.

"So does she kiss any good?" Iggy asked. Fang stared at him and Iggy burst into laughter again.

"Just wanna know. Ella's her half sister ain't she? It gives me an idea about what to expect if I tell her." Fang sighed. Iggy had been crushing on Ella since they met. Again Max was the only one, besides Ella that didn't know about it. Max just didn't know anything about relationships.

"Well?" Iggy pushed.

"I don't kiss and tell Ig." He groaned and rolled his blind eyes.

"Of course. Mr. Noble all of a sudden now that you're Max's boyfriend. What about when you told me all about Lissa back in DC? And then when you described all the beach babes to me when it was just us and the Gazzy in California?" Nudge looked thoroughly disgusted.

"You guys are disgusting. I can't believe you. If Max had heard you-"

"Max won't know, because you'll keep quiet, right?"said Iggy.

"But-"

"You'll keep quiet or I'll tell Max that you didn't pack just your makeup kit."

"If you do that, I'll tell her where you hide all those explosives!" Fang shook his head. So many secrets kept from Max, and she didn't even know. Though she was often relieved when Iggy or Gazzy pulled bombs out on the bad guys or when Nudge brought enough stuff to make them all over tenfold, including clothing, she liked complaining about them as extra, unnecessary weight when they weren't being useful.

"All of you shut up and don't say a word to Max about anything and I won't tell her all your secrets, including your new power, Gazzy," Fang yelled. Gazzy groaned.

"Don't tell her that! She'll use me all the time and will be all upset."

"Then stop fighting. We're almost to the beach. We need to start looking for the mirror."

"I knew it. You are going to act like our dad," Nudge exclaimed. Iggy started laughing again, but the argument had stopped. Fang sighed again and shook his head, before surveying the long, sandy beach for a flickering light. The others joined him and soon they found it, shining bright from a small cave hidden in the trees.

"There it is!" Fang called and they all angled for the light. Fang could make out Max with wings outspread, backpack at her feet, and a small, warm smile on her face as she watched the flock come closer. God, she was beautiful.

"Presenting Omega 2.0! The next generation of Omega." The crowd of potential buyers shifted in their seats, not seeing anything special in the fourteen-year-old boy standing in front of them. This very fact made them lean forward with interest. It was a good defense mechanism: supposed innocence.

"He is twice as fast, strong, and smart as the last version of Omega. No longer is he distracted or easily overcome by quick movement. You all remember how Omega the first was destroyed by our recombinant DNA experiment with birds due to her speed. Now..." The woman paused and her eyes swept over the apt audience.

"Now... he can overcome all." She stepped back as the lights faded and a few people clapped. The boy stepped forward and was suddenly covered in robotic Erasers. They moved with precision and speed, but the boy was faster, knocking out all one hundred and fifty of them in under a minute. At the end of the demonstration, he bowed and slouched, pretending to smack gum in his mouth. Once again he looked the perfect picture of innocence and boredom. This time the whole audience clapped and the woman approached the boy, putting her arm around his shoulders.

"Thank you. We will have one final test, a demonstration of the boy's superiority and then the bidding will begin. If you wish to see the trial, simply log on to our secret website and click on the link labeled Omega 2.0 Camera. You will be able to see everything from Omega 2.0's point of view. Thank you for coming. You may exit to your right." The group began shuffling out of their seats and to the door being held open by a robotic Eraser. Some of the braver souls paused to examine Omega 2.0 with fascination.

He answered their questions unerringly, shook hands, and smiled, acting like a real boy, albeit, much, much smarter. However, inside he was fuming. The scientists had given him Omega the first's memory, so as to make sure he knew who and what his target was. The memories did nothing, but ignite a flame of anger in his stomach. He would get this Maximum Ride.


End file.
